It was 1am on Day 2 when I got back to my hotel room. Which is precisely when I realized I had left my phone charger in my backpack... on the bus. Which was at a different hotel. And my phone battery was reading 8%.

Oops.

Also, we had to get up at 5am to start the next day.

Double oops.

I set a wake up call - but I didn't trust it. I've been waking up to my phone alarm clock for the past decade - I know that works and I don't particularly trust wake up calls. Luckily, it worked. I woke up at 5am, met up with the documentary crew who is tagging along with us and away we went.

The first stop of Day 3 was breakfast at a farm in Missouri about 90 minutes away from Kansas City. As we were driving across the last dirt road in this big van, there were two huge white dogs sitting on the side of the road. As we approached, they stood. We slowed down, unsure what they were going to do.

As we passed them, they TOOK OFF running next to us and paced us at 25 miles an hour for a solid 20 or 30 seconds. Then they turned off and went back to their spot. I guess that's how they get their exercise!

We pulled into the farm and it was awesome. I didn't grow up on a farm. I grew up in suburbs and live in a city. It was awesome to see lambs, goats, chickens and cows roaming around 180 acres worth of grass, fields, and forest.

This was a proper farm. We were here to talk to a farmer, Tom Parker. He is incredibly passionate about raising grass fed animals. He told us a story about how due to a drought this season, he had more animals than he could feed. He could have supplemented their diets with grains.

Instead, he culled the herd and took a loss rather than feed them grains. Tom is a true blue American farmer, through and through, and that is why we were there. This was a small business, the kind the political candidates are saying are the backbone of our economy. But... how does the internet effect small farms like Parker Farms Natural Meats?

Our theory is that everyone knows that there are a ton of tech companies on the coasts, but people tend to forget about the middle of the country. But the internet is here, too... and it's just as important (if not more) in the Midwest.

Tom told us he checks his email two or three times a week. And yet, 95% of his business comes from his website. We interviewed him and his family for a long time about their business, about farming, and about how the internet has effected how they operate.

Many people think of farmers as simple, primitive, or uneducated - but that couldn't be farther from the truth. Tom is super sharp, recognizes when technology can help him, his business, and his family, and is frustrated when Big Agriculture lobbies for laws that hurt small farmers and spoke elegantly about these issues.

He then treated us to an amazing breakfast of sausages (from recently slaughtered pigs), fresh made quiche, raw milk (milked that morning from the cow you see below), and some sort of desert that could only be described as a heavenly combination of cheesecake and cream cheese.

[Editors note - I'm joining the Bus Tour because in January, I co-produced an anti-SOPA video called The Day The Lolcats Died. 700,000 views in a week, this was called The Protest Song of the Anti-SOPA Movement.

After this, I wanted to stay involved in fighting for issues I cared about, and started to develop Startup Weekend's Government vertical. In addition to having Gov't themed Startup Weekend events, we're trying to invite elected officials out to Startup Weekend's to help show them that startups and tech entrepreneurship is happening in their constituencies, and that it's something they need to care about.

Alexis announced the Bus Tour, and the Iowa City event happened to fit perfectly in their schedule. Once the Startup Weekend event was finished, I'm hopping on board the bus to travel with them the rest of the way!]

Last night I celebrated my birthday with a small handful of friends. We all had dinner at the Big River Grille off of Broadway and across from the Hard Rock Cafe in downtown Nashville. Here are some photos:
[caption id="attachment_153" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Me with my good friend Ben Wilson (He co-produced my album.)"][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_154" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="My friends got me a couple of shots to down. They were yummy!"][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_155" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="With my dear friends Tony and Melody."][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_156" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="With my good friend and photographer extraordinaire Todd."][/caption]
Afterwards, we all went out to smoke some huckas. I LOVE HUCKAS!!! I was a hucka virgin until last night, but man, I've been missing out. That stuff is the bomb!!!! Huckas are quite flavorful and relaxing. Here is some evidence . . .
[caption id="attachment_157" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Hucka Heaven!!!"][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_158" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Me and my girl Lola!!!"][/caption]
I'll post more photos from the celebration later!!
-g